Close(d) Call

I have to admit...this blog has started off with a rather "Activist" tone. But hey, why stop now.

I guess this is something that I've already written in my Notes on the Book (you know what book I'm talking about). But I think it's worth mentioning again, because IT'S WORKED! To bring you up to speed...

[Posted on 1 July 2010] Today I received yet another annoying telemarketing call. This time, I'd been selected to win a weekend away at any hotel in South Africa...all I had to do was pay R299. Lucky me. Last week in the post I received a pre-approved credit account from Truworths with R300 shopping vouchers...even though I've never signed up for a Truworths account and probably never will. Again, lucky me!

Back to the holiday voucher call: upon asking the caller how she received my details, I was told it's because I'm listed on the National Consumers Database...huh? So I finished ranting at her and got off the phone and turned to my trusty friend, Google. What I found was quite surprising...1 in 3 South Africans are automatically added to this delightful database that is distributed amongst direct marketing companies in South Africa. On top of that, our banks tend to sell our credit history (without my permission as far as I'm concerned) to this database as well. So I thought I'd share this little fun fact with you...

If you would like to ensure that you are never ever contacted by these stupid sales people ever again, you need to deregister yourself from the National Consumers Database. Go to this site and also this site, fill in nothing but your ID and name, and voila! it is now illegal for telemarkers using this database to ever contact you again.

I've now gone almost an entire month telemarketer-free, which is definitely a first for me. Coupled with getting myself off the National Consumers Database, I'm also getting clued up on the Consumer Protection Act, which sounds brilliant. I'm still battling with the random credit accounts in the post though (another one from Mr Price arrived...groan!). If anyone's got some insight into fighting these guys off as well, please do share. For now, go forth and enjoy the fact that everytime your cell rings, it's a worthwhile call (I hope).